Say Anything
by SongForThePainter
Summary: Moonshine made the anger flow like fire in his veins. He said things that hurt her and worse then that, he didn't want to fix it. Because if they hated each other, it wouldn't hurt when he lost her. Like they had lost the others after the prison fell. And in this world, you could lose people even when you feel safe. He could lose her.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: We Were Bound To Be Set Free, Eventually.

"I sure as hell never cut my wrists, lookin for attention." Daryl screamed at her, the moonshine kicking into his system all at once.

"Don't say that, you don't know-" her hushed words were cut off by his louder, harsher ones.

"It's true, aint it? Face it, girl. You were weak. And it don't look like you've come too far." he ranted on, his voice undoubtedly inviting the dead to their doorstep.

"Risking both our lives just to get yourself a drink like some sorority bitch." he continued, getting in her face as she pushed herself up from the makeshift table they made on the floor.

"Daryl, stop it." she whispered loudly, reaching out to grab his wrist in an attempt to settle him down.

"Don't touch me. I shoulda just left you at the prison back then. You're only makin things worse bein around me. All the others are dead and I'm stuck takin care of a sheltered lil farm girl. Life sure is funny, aint it." he ranted, looking her dead in the eyes, watching as her bright blue ones filled with tears.

Beth bit the inside of her lip before stumbling away from him. There was no point in lyin to herself. He was scaring her and she had to put some distance between them before he went off anymore towards her.

"I'll just leave you to it then, Mr. Dixon." she replied, her voice shaking as she blinked the tears back before they got a chance to fall and stream down her pale cheeks.

"'bout time." he muttered, snatching his crossbow off the wall, pushing past her roughly as he went into the cramped bedroom down the hall. Beth winced as he slammed the door shut, the creak of a rusty box spring the only sound she heard after that. She had no doubt that Daryl had collapsed on the bed in there, paying her no mind.

She knew she shouldn't have assumed anything bad about the man down the hall but she had been drinkin and he shouldn't have been so sensitive.

_He's right though. Out of all the people in our group to be stuck with, I'm sure I'd be the last one chosen. _

Her buzz was quickly wearing off as she put her hand on her sheath where she kept her knife, pushing herself out the back door and collapsing on the opened porch that faced the dark forest. She rested her back against the rusty railing as she sat on the cold cement of the steps.

She understood now why people drank; and she understood even more why she wouldn't again. She wasn't herself. She never would've said something like that to him if she was sober. She never would have made a comment that she knew was an unfair pass of judgment. But there was nothing she could do now.

_If I had any sense of decency, I would leave right now and let him off the hook. He could survive on his own and be much happier without me draggin him down._

And maybe that's what the best option was. Sure, she could hold her own against a couple walkers. She was skilled with her knife and she could run pretty damn fast. But Daryl thrived in this world. He knew how to live off the land and protect himself. When she first met him on the farm, you would never know the world had ever been different. He moved around the prison and the forests like he had never had a life better then this. And she admired him for it. And he deserved a chance to live and make a life for himself. She knew she had to go. Because he was right.

About all of it.

She pushed herself up from the steps and headed back into the house, her mind completely clear and conscience of her choice. She reached to the small chest just inside the doorway for her backpack when she heard the stairs creak across from her. She looked over with surprise to see Daryl standing on the last step focusing his narrow blue eyes on her.

_Great, he got a second wind._

"What are you doin, girl?" he asked, stepping down one more step until he was one the ground floor, taking a couple strides until he was a foot away from her.

She tightened the hold on her bag, slowly standing up completely, putting it over her shoulders.

"I figured I'd best be gettin outta here. Figured you were passed out upstairs but since you're here, good luck, I suppose" she answered him, twisting on her heels to grab the doorknob. She barely heard it click open when his voice stopped her.

"Don't make me chase you through the fuckin woods, Beth. We're both tired but I swear to god I'll do it. Put that down and close the door. I'm sick of the pity party." he finished, his words still fueled by traces of alcohol, his cheeks still slightly red from it. He mumbled under his breath a few more words but she couldn't make them out. And as he turned and took a few steps up the wooden stair, she didn't think she wanted to know what else he had to say.

"You want me to stay even after all that stuff you said?" she exclaimed in disbelief, never letting her guard down or releasing her bag, her lifeline, from her grasp.

"Yes. We've been drinkin. Let's just forget all this bullshit and get some sleep. We gotta be outta here at sun-up."

"Why are you looking after me? You coulda left me at the prison like you said you wanted to. Why didn't you?" she demanded, the adrenaline making her brave.

"Hershal was a good man. I owe it to him to look out for his girl." he said, walking up the stairs further until she had to look up at him on the second floor landing as she spoke again.

"So you're draggin me along because of my daddy? As some kinda penance or something?" she asked, following him up the stairs, never doubting his threat to chase her through the woods and drag her back here. She was too tired to run. Too tired to fight.

"Mhhm." he mumbled his reply, walking into the bedroom and throwing himself on the bed, his hands behind his head as he lay flat on his back.

It was then that Beth noticed him for the first time. She stood in the bedroom doorway, looking at him completely unshaken by the angry words they had shared only minutes ago. As if this was normal for him. To spew hate and cruelty when there was alcohol involved. And who knows, maybe it was. But it wasn't for her.

And she hoped it never would be.

"And if we left tomorrow and along the way I was bit? Or taken? Or killed? Would you feel anythin'?" she asked, not knowing why she tortured herself when she knew the answer. She shut the door and sat on the other side of the bed, as far to the edge as she could.

"Nothin I couldn't live with." he grunted, his eyes shutting as he rolled away from her to fall asleep.

"I guess that's that then." she whispered, laying down in the bed with her back facing his and falling into a hard, dark sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:You Will Hurt Me, And I'll Disappear.

"Son of a bitch." Daryl moaned, grabbing his head as he stood up from the bed, the shift in the creaky mattress enough to rouse her. The sun was barely starting to rise, the room still blanketed in darkness as she rubbed her eyes.

Beth listened as Daryl stumbled with heavy feet into the next room, which she could only assume was a bathroom, and slam the door. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and gathered her things together, kicking the empty glass jars away that littered the room. She went downstairs with her backpack on her shoulder, sifting through the cabinets for anything they might want to take with them. She filled her arms with the cans of beans and fruit, dumping them on the table before throwing her bag beside them.

"Beth." Daryl moved silently and while she was aware of that fact, it never ceased to give her a small panic attack when he snuck up behind her undetected. She turned at the waist to look over at him as he walked into the kitchen before going back to her task of filling up her pack with all the food they could carry.

"Hmm?" she asked uninterested, wanting nothing more then to ignore him all together.

" 'bout last night." he began, running his hand through his dark, dusty hair.

"Let's just forget about it." she offered, hoping to put the whole experience behind them. She threw her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door with him on her tail. "I wanted a drink like a foolish young girl and you helped me get it. Let's leave the rest be."

"A'right." he said, holding his bow in front of him, pushing in front of her when they entered the woods.

Minutes passed, and then hours, and neither of them noticed how deadly silent they both were until her voice broke through the air as the sun set in the sky.

"Yanno, I would feel something." she started, the sound of her voice suddenly so confident and calm making him turn around to face her.

"If you got bit or taken or killed, I mean. I'd feel somethin'." she elaborated, walking past him where he stood unmoving and walking towards what looked like a funeral home in the distance. The sun would be gone soon and it wasn't safe to be out at night. She crossed over the uneven earth of headstones and freshly dug graves while he watched her move, only following her after a few moments had passed.

"What are you talkin about, girl?" he asked, not knowin where this was coming from. It was as if she started in the middle of a conversation without telling him the beginning and just expected him to jump in.

She unsheathed her knife as she walked to the front door of the large building, Daryl jogging up behind her all of a sudden, pushing her to the side and raising his weapon in front of them. She rolled her eyes at him, annoyed that he didn't seem to respect her ability to handle herself.

"Last night." she finally answered, Daryl pushing the door open and slowly securing the home of any walkers. "I asked you if you would feel anythin if something happened to me." she explained, her knife drawn as she rounded the corner that led to a pristine staircase leading to a second floor. Daryl was across the room, surveying the safety of the kitchen when she let out a surprised scream. It barely lasted a second before she bit down on her bottom lip and took control of the situation. Daryl had skidded to position at the bottom of the steps that she was already at the top of, a snarling walker snapping insistently at her neck.

"Beth!" he shouted, following the dead with his loaded bolt but unable to take the shot with the chance it might hit her. He could only stand rigid while he watched her act on her own; something he had never seen before.

Beth shoved the walker away from her with all her strength before quickly driving her knife into its temple, the body falling over the banister to land on the ground floor right at Daryls feet. He barely looked at it before he was taking the steps two at a time until he was standing right in front of her.

"Are you bit?" he asked, grabbing her wrist and twisting her all around, but she resisted, readying her knife again before moving into the next room to secure.

Daryl simply watched her with angry eyes at her complete lack of emotion at such a high anxiety moment in their day.

"And do you know what you said?" Beth asked, picking right back up on her last string of words from before her near death experience.

"I got a feelin' you're about to tell me." he snapped, securing the room across from hers.

"You basically said it wouldn't phase you much. But that's not the point. Point is," she said calmly, walking back down the stairs once the top level was secured.

"I want you to know that I would feel somethin if you were gone. Not sure what, but somethin. And if I am bit tomorrow or the next day or whenever the hell we make it to, you better know that. And let it remind you of what a foolish girl I really am for caring about someone who don't give a shit about me." she said evenly, moving past him into the kitchen, where he had been checking before her scream distracted him.

"I thought you said we was gonna forget what happened last night." he called after her, following her into the kitchen.

"Well, look's like Blondie here has a big strong protector. Wonder what she does to deserve such an arrangement." a new voice purred when he entered the room.

Daryl raised his bow immediately when he saw the scene in front of him. He had stepped into the kitchen just moments earlier but before he could insure it was safe, Beth had been attacked and he left the space a trap that she walked straight into. The stranger had his arm wrapped around Beths throat from behind, a large butcher knife in his hand pressing into her neck, blood trickling down from the open wound he had already created.

"Let go of me." Beth cried, thrashing against him, trying to get her arms free from where he was holding them tight to her side, his other arms around her waist.

Daryl noticed that he looked about 50, maybe 60, and his eyes showed all the violence and cruelty that he was capable of.

"We aint know this place was already claimed." Daryl said, his voice hard as he spoke to the man, thinking only of Beths safety at this point.

"And what of this one?" He asked with a grin, leaning his head down until his nose was deep in her golden hair, inhaling deeply and making Beth flinch back in fear. She bit her lip to keep from letting her emotions overtake her. If she was going to get out of this, she had to keep her head. That was a lesson Daryl had taught her early on back on the farm.

"Is she claimed too?" he whispered, bringing his lips to her neck, biting down hard enough to make her her scream in a muffled tone inside her own mouth. Daryl took a step closer to the pair, tossing his weapon on the table.

"Yea, she's claimed. So how 'bout you hand her back over to me and we will get out of your house like we wasn't even here." he reasoned, stepping closer and closer to them slowly until he was within reaching distance of Beth. He watched her shudder as the stranger pressed the blade harder against her throat.

"Daryl." she choked out, her breathing shallow as the man let his other arm roam over her stomach, under her shirt and around her bare back.

"I don't know why you are threatin to kill her. Seems like a damn waste of such a good lookin girl." Daryl said, changing up his strategy. It was only one man, older and seemingly weaker then himself. If he was smart, they could get out of here alive.

"She's a weak little thing. Take the knife away and fuck her if ya want. But ill be wantin her back when you're done." he continued, falling into the seat at the kitchen table, acting as casual as he could.

"So you suck his cock and he keeps the biters away? Is that it?" he smiled, dropping the knife and running his open palm over her neck and down to her breast.

She bit back the tears and nodded fiercely in agreement.

"Can't hear you, little one. Answer me!" he yelled, his other hand gripping her thigh painful enough to finally unleash the silent tears down her cheeks. Daryls eyes locked on them the entire time as he reached into his boot, his hand gripping the hilt of a knife hard enough to whiten his knuckles.

"Hurry this along. We got places to be, friend." Daryl said, walking around the man, drawing his knife only when he was directly at his back.

All in one single moment, the man threw Beth down on the ground, a yelp escaping her throat, and Daryl raised his knife, slamming it down into the mans skull before he could climb on top of her.

Blood streamed down into his dead eyes and over his entire body before falling to the ground. Beth backed up on her hands before it could fall on her.

She was inhaling as quickly as she could but it felt as if no air was getting into her lungs. She barely noticed Daryl drag her to her feet until she was already standing in front of him.

"You a'right?" he asked, looking at her closely as he gripped her shoulders. Her silence only making him question her louder.

"Beth, look at me." he demanded, taking her chin in his hand and pulling her face around to stare back at him.

Her eyes were glassed over with tears that refused to fall as her body shook. "I'm fine." she managed to get out, just barely loud enough to hear.

"Fuck all." he growled, wrapping his arms around her back, slamming her body against his chest. "I aint mean any of that shit I said back there before. I just needed his attention dragged away from me." he explained, ashamed of all the sexual, hateful things that came from his mouth just seconds ago.

"I know that. Now tell me what I really need to hear. But only if it's true and I swear on my daddys grave I'll know if you're lying. " she threatened, looking up as she pulled her head away from his chest in their tight embrace.

"None of that shit was true last night. The moonshine and losin our family. I lost it and I took it out on you and I swear I never meant to. I may be an asshole redneck but I don't enjoy lookin at a person as good as you and hurtin em. That's the truth." he vowed, stepping away from her to grab his crossbow from the table.

"You were right about one thing though. I would've been your last choice if you could've picked who to escape with. I woulda been anyones last choice." she said with a shrug, touching the hilt of her knife that hung low on her hip

"Look like we are bein all honest and shit here so I'll go with it for now. If I could've picked who to get out with, my first pick woulda been Rick. That man is my brother in every sense of the word. But you know who my second pick woulda been?" he asked, looking her up and down until she locked eyes with him under her dark lashes.

"It woulda been you, girl. You keep your emotions in check, like with that pervert of a man just now, you're quiet in the woods, you run like hell, and you have the most potential out of all of em to stay alive. And I'll tell ya for certain right now, Beth. I'm glad you're with me." he revealed, turning his back on her and walking out the front door, giving her a second to gather her thoughts before she followed him out.

"Well, I guess that's that then." she muttered to herself, catching up with him as they walked into the darkening woods.

**Review please. I want to hear all of what you have to say :) I am actually off work tomorrow by some miracle of science so If i hear enough good things I will try my damndest to update tomorrow 33**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: I Can Smell Your Scent For Miles

"Do you think there's even a small chance that they could've survived? I mean, if we got out, some of the others probably did too, right?" She asked, walking behind the hunter as they followed a set of train tracks.

"You think we are out roamin these streets for fun? We are gonna find somebody whether its Michonne or your sister or any one of em. We all left the same place at the same time. We are bound to run into one of our group before long." he answered, glancing back at her briefly as he spoke.

"Between you and I, and I swear if we find them all in one big group by some damn miracle I wont tell, who do you hope we find the most? Rick?" she asked, right at his heel as they spotted a single walker a in the far distance.

He paused for a minute at her question, shooting a bolt from that distance not phasing him at all as it hit the walker between the eyes. He lowered his bow and turned around her face her completely now, the sun high in the sky, telling them they had plenty of daylight left.

"Aint no one I am hoping to find more then those two kids. Carl and lil asskicker." he replied, surprising Beth with his answer. It mirrored hers to a T. She loved her sister, and everyone else in their family. But if she could pick anyone to save, if she _had _to, she would give her life for those kids.

"Me too." Beth whispered, looking up at him as she pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes, the heat making it stick to her skin with ease.

"Over ya own sister?" he asked, seemingly disgusted with her agreement.

As if timing couldn't have played out better, a sign came up ahead as they started walking again , a slumped over walker corpse cut open underneath it.

"Terminus. All That Arrive, Survive." Beth read aloud, looking over at Daryl who stood behind her looking over her shoulder at the words.

"Keep reading." he urged, anger in his tone.

Beth turned her attention back to the sign, scanning down a few inches to see bold red letters dripping down the breaker box that held the original sign. It was clearly written by hand in walker blood, the texture thick and black.

"Go To Terminus. Maggie." Beth read aloud again, crouching down to put her head in her hands.

"That's bullshit, Beth. Aint no way to look out for ya own blood. " he commented, tapping her on the back quickly before she straightened up and stood. He was surprised to see no tears in her eyes. Hell, he wouldn't have thought of her to be weak for reacting to her sisters complete disregard for her.

"It's fine." she shrugged, glancing at him for a moment before turning back to the track and heading towards this new idea of salvation in Terminus.

"Her and Glenn are married now. She probably assumes I'm dead. I can't fault her for that."

"Like hell you can't." Daryl spat, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back roughly until she faced him.

"You are her blood. Her damn sister. Merle was a fuckin lunatic likely to get me killed. But I would have searched to the end of this earth to find him. What would your daddy think?" he said, astonished at her lack of pain or outrage at this change in their journey.

"You know how you said my father was a good man?" she bagan, her voice toning down into a soft whisper. "When you met him, you're right, he was. When you came to that farm you saw how he provided for us, protected us, _loved _us."

"That's what I always respected about him. That's why it rocked me so hard to lose em." he interjected.

"He wasn't always that way, Daryl. I don't want to taint your opinion of him and I want you to remember him how you saw him but that wasn't always him. That version of daddy was new and we had barely gotten use to it when yall showed up on our land." she continued, looking across the way to avoid his harsh stare in her direction.

"He wasn't always around or somethin when yall were kids?" he asked, wanting her to continue. He urged her to walk beside him as they went back to their path, knowing the walk would help her get what she wanted to say out. She thrived in the wild just like he did and when they came to a clearing into a large forest, she picked up her story by answering his question.

He pushed through some brush and fallen branches until they could break through, coming into a beautiful array of trees and colored leaves that hung overhead, the sun shining through them just right.

"Naw, he was always around for us. But he use to drink a lot. And he wasn't himself when he drank." she explained, her words trailing off slowly, not sure she wanted to continue this story. And at that moment, she wasnt at all sure why she had started telling him this in the first place.

"Whatcha mean?" he asked, his own scars on his back seeming to now be burning through his shirt at the topic and the direction it seemed to be leading in.

"He was always sorry when he sobered up." she said, skipping over the painful part of the explaination.

"Hey lil girl," he called suddenly, pulling her out of the tight knit bushes and into a clearing with a small log cabin that was more run down and broken then the moonshine place. "Some of us had real shitty parents so dont go makin your story sound so damn heartbreaking when he probably just slap your wrist a few times when you needed to learn a lesson."

Beth took a step back, shaking his grip of her wrist and putting as much distance as she could between them. He kept his stride towards the cabin, throwing the door open as the sun made the last move to set in the sky, the moon rising across the way as it did so.

"Is that what you think?" she called out, still not moving from her spot a couple yards back in the forest of a backyard.

"Keep it down, Beth. You want all the walkers in the area to find us?" he growled, storming over to her and half dragging her beside him into the house, locking the door behind them.

"So let's imagine a scenario shall we?" she began, checking the house opposite of Daryl until all the rooms were clear, stepping in front of each other in the loft of the top floor on the creaky wooden planks.

"We were all still at the prison, living life with no trouble at all. Judith grew up and was now 5 or 6 at the time. While all we was all eatin dinner, she dropped her food on the floor on accident. You imaginin with me, Mr. Dixon?" she snapped, fire in her eyes as he met them with equal intensity.

"I'm with ya, girl. Get to the point." he growled, his eyes almost slits as they glared down at her, her face barely a breath from his as the room got darker while the moon got higher in the sky.

"Would Judith need to 'learn a lesson' as you so gently put it? Would it be right for Rick to smack her across the face right at the dinner table and demand she clean it up before he got his belt?" her voice shaking at this point, her fingernails leaving half moon intents in her palms.

"Rick would never do that so why we even talkin bout it?" he yelled, his breath hitting her in the face with each word.

"And I'm sure my daddy wouldn't either, would he." she said, stating his opinion instead of questioning it.

"No, he wouldn't." he sneered, keeping his hands to his side as best he could.

"Well, you must know him better then me then. Because I remember him being more then capable. But, I'm just his daughter, what do I know about it." she said, shoving her palms against his chest as hard as she could before she stormed through the house and out the back door, the screen slamming against the frame as she did so.


End file.
